Abstract:
From 1690 to 1732, the silver mining town of Zacatecas, located in New Spain’s northern province of Nueva Galicia, experienced a spectacular surge in production. The boom called for an equally large labor force. Labor in silver mines is often associated with native peoples, especially male draft laborers. In Zacatecas, native peoples constituted the bulk of the mining workforce through the colonial period. However, not all native peoples worked in the extraction of silver, nor was silver production exclusively the domain of men. Some native peoples gathered enough resources to be miners (mine owners) and, while they did not work below ground, many women were involved in other aspects of mining production. Based on archival documents from Zacatecas, this paper examines a dispute between two native peoples, Maria Josefa Leon and Joseph de la Cruz, over rights to the ownership of the silver mine, “Los Remedios,” located on the bluffs of the city. The essay provides insight into mining production, gender roles, custody and inheritance laws, and property disputes in early eighteenth-century indigenous society. It also serves as a case study of the important roles that native people played in the development of Zacatecas as both a mining and urban center.